The Dead
by Queen Of Gabb 488
Summary: Living in Mystic Falls had taught Elena one thing, the dead should stay dead and buried. Now, after adjusting to her status as one of the undead, Elena stumbles upon a secret that changes everything she thinks she has learned since the unfortunate accident that took her parents life and led to her current predicament; finding the Cure for her Vampirism.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** So...this is my first Vampire Diaries fanfiction. Please be kind, but I always appreciate constructive feedback.

* * *

It seemed like forever since Elena could have a private moment with herself. Ever since Jeremy's death she had been walking around on autopilot, her humanity shut off and with it her guilt, anxiety, love had gone with it. Damon had been right; at the time it was exactly what she needed. At first it was almost freeing. No more heartache, no more grieving.

When Damon had brought her back and Elena had to deal with her brother's death, she begged Damon and then Stephen to shut it off again. It was the first time that the brother's had agreed on what was best for her. It had taken nearly a week of isolating herself from her thoughts and her friends before finally letting it all out –the sobbing, the yelling, the breakdown—and the hurt stopped feeling like it was suffocating her. There were hours where she thought she wouldn't survive and hours that weren't quite so bad. Damon was there for it all, even when Elena pushed him away.

Now, nearly a month after her humanity was switched on, Elena lay down on her bed; Damon's bed in the Salvatore mansion, spending her time looking through what few family mementos had survived her arson at the old house. She was grateful that she had unknowingly protected the last tangible memories she had of her parents and Jenna, Jeremy, Alaric and even her birth parents. Holding up a picture Alaric had given her of Isobel, Elena wondered why all of this was happening to her; to her family. And the answer to that question was blatantly obvious.

Niklaus Mikaelson was to blame for it all, especially the predicament she was in now. If only he never existed than none of it would have ever happened. Katherine never would have been turned and certainly wouldn't have used Jeremy to get to the cure. Why? Why was it her punishment in life to be at his mercy?

Putting the picture of Isobel back in her box of tragedies, her eyes caught a glimpse of her birth mother's research. Elena had found it after Alaric's death, tucked neatly into his messenger bag, though hadn't really ever given it another thought. Now, picking the papers up, Elena briefly thumbed through it until something strange caught her eyes. A list of names had been compiled but Elena recognized several of them from the Petrova family tree and the others were unfamiliar. Grabbing her computer, Elena began typing in the unfamiliar names.


	2. Chapter 2

Elena walked briskly, making her way out into the woods by the old Salvatore Plantation. If Katherine had the cure it meant she was most likely still in the area, though with the very real possibility of Silas being in Mystic falls the young vampire wouldn't be surprised to find her ancestor had left them all to deal with it on their own.

This was the only part of town that was remote enough for Katherine to be hiding out. It wasn't the usual extravagant hotel or house she usually invaded but it was low profile and certainly meant less prying eyes.

"Katherine," Elena called out. "If you're here somewhere than now would be the time to come out and play nice," she twirled around, trying to catch a glimpse of the other doppelganger.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the ever pure, moral, _lesser _version of myself. How are things going with Stefan, or are you with Damon now," she tried to act coy.

"You know I'm with Damon just like you know that I want the cure that you killed my brother for."

"Still angry about that, are we? Well, it needed to be done," the older vampire sat on the brick foundation of the old Salvatore house; the rest of it long gone and turned to rubble.

"And why do you want the cure so much," Elena asked, "that my brother needed to die?"

"That's for me to know and for you to stay the hell out of my business."

"Really? I thought it might have something to do with some distant relatives," Elena folded her arms over her chest and Katherine was instantly in front of her, forcing her to her knees as Elena struggled to get up.

"What do you know," she demanded.

"I know that there are at least two other branches off the family tree," the young one answered begrudgingly. "Klaus obviously doesn't know or else—"

"Or else he would know that there's more than just one line that inherited our curse," Katherine finished and cursed loudly. "Who else knows," she demanded; venom in every syllable she uttered.

"No one. I came to you first," Elena said and was surprised when Katherine let her up. Brushing the dirt off her jeans, she eyed her ancestor and saw genuine relief on her face. "What is going on, Katherine? What are you trying to do with the cure?"

"I'm going to use it to put an end to everything," Katherine answered. "And you're going to help me," she gripped Elena by the arm and sped off with her.


	3. Chapter 3

"So what you're telling me is that the Petrova family smuggled Tatia's child back to Bulgaria after Esther turned her children into the original vampires," Elena summed up.

"Yes," Katherine said, checking her mirrors before switching lanes at high speed. "They had been warned by Esther that the child and all of her descendants would inherit the curse of the doppelgangers and that Klaus would do unspeakable things to them to break his curse. They fled back to the old country hoping to hide from Klaus for eternity."

"Except you were exiled from Bulgaria and as luck would have it you ran right into Klaus's arms."

"Give the girl a prize. The family knew he would be looking and tried to take precautions. Though you can see why the stories of Klaus would dwindle away after five hundred years. By the time I was born it was simply a family legend that nobody even remembered and I was left a lamb to the slaughter."

"No one would ever mistake you for that," Elena credited the other girl. "I know about everything you've done to survive, at least the big stuff. You outsmarted, outran, and outlived just about everyone who stood in your path."

"Yeah, well better me than someone else I guess, but we're getting off the point. The branches you dug up have remained hidden for longer than I've been alive. About halfway between Tatia and me, one of our ancestors gave birth to twins. How pissed off do you think Klaus would be if he found out that he only had to wait 250 years after I turned for another doppelganger?"

"There was another?" Elena was astonished.

"It seems that every 250 years the family tree grows another branch," Katherine told her. "And every 500 years from the time of its inception it breeds another doppelganger."

"But that would mean—"

"That would mean," Katherine elaborated, "that there's another doppelganger in the family right now."

* * *

"What do you mean, you 'don't know where she is'," Caroline asked. Ever since Jeremy's death the cheerleader and former Ms. Mystic Falls had been afraid for her friend. Sure, Caroline had been questioning Elena's judgment before that –due to her newly confessed love for Damon—but Elena had finally lost the last member of her family. There were no more parents or guardians to step up for her and now she seemed like she was missing.

Damon poured the whiskey into his tumbler and began to lift it to his lips, hesitating to give Caroline one of his patented 'Go away before I kill you' looks. "She wanted some alone time this morning. Spent most of the day looking at old family photos and then decided she wanted to go for a walk. Explore the old haunting grounds."

"And you didn't go with her," the blonde half screamed and half laughed, panic finally taking over.

"I asked," he defended himself. "She didn't want the company. It's only been a couple of hours," he swirled his drink before sipping. "I don't think you need to worry about her being lured into a dark alley by a strange man with a puppy. Elena can handle herself."

"Are you saying that because you truly mean it or because you're freaking out and there's nothing you can do?"

"Oh, you got me," Damon pretended to be frightened, "the truth is I'm afraid of the things that go bump in the night," his blue eyes grew wide and Caroline found her nerves calming down. "Look, she's not much younger than you when it comes to the whole vampire thing. Elena will handle anything that happens but chances are she's at the Gilbert family mausoleum, visiting the people she misses the most and finally grieving all of the tragedies that have fallen on her.

"She wants to be alone, to contemplate what everything means to her and when she figures it out she will come to us," Damon assured Caroline. "I bet she'll be back anytime now."

* * *

"How much further," Elena asked.

"Oh, only about five more hours. We're almost halfway to Massachusetts," Katherine smirked. "It looks like it's time for a family reunion."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Lydia is portrayed (in my mind) by Alexandra Chando of The Lying Game show on ABC family.

* * *

"Well, well, well," Lydia opened her door and held it out so the visitors could enter, "I never thought I'd see the day when Katerina Petrova walked back through my door."

Katherine smiled and hugged the other woman, leaving Elena confused and standing awkwardly to the side. Lydia had similar features with a darker skin tone and wavy brown curls. "Long time no see. How's the family?"

"Well, Mama is on her honeymoon with her fourth husband," Lydia laughed, "and Grandmamma Sonya is living in a nudist colony so everything is pretty much the same as the last time you visited," and then smacked Katherine's arm.

"Hey," the vampire shoved back, "what the hell was that for?"

"How about not dropping a line in the last three years," Lydia bitched and once again punched Katherine's arm, dodging the vampire's pathetic attempt to retaliate. Katherine never could find it in her to hurt Lydia and they both knew Lydia's little jabs didn't mean anything to the five century year old vampire. "Are you even going to introduce me to my cousin? Jesus, Kat. How rude can you be?"

"Oh," Katherine stared at her nails and made the introductions. "Lydia, Elena. There. You've met," she said and flashed forward to a sitting position on the couch. "Elena found Isobel's research and now knows about the other doppelganger lines."

"Ah, so you had no choice but to bring her into the fold. That makes more sense than what I was imagining. Well," she held out a hand, "it's nice to meet another cousin."

"It's nice to meet you too," Elena said. "Actually, it's amazing. I guess I thought I was stuck by myself. It's good to know I have relatives out there."

"On your own," Lydia asked. "What about your brother? Katherine, what did you say his name was—Jeremy?"

Katherine pursed her lips and turned to look away. Elena scoffed, "Katherine was after the cure."

"And," Lydia asked, not getting her point.

"Jeremy was one of the five," Elena said, hoping Lydia would know considering she seemed to know a lot.

"Katherine Pierce, you did not kill your great-great-great-something-granddaughter's brother," Lydia hollered and threw the closest book at the vampire.

"I did what I needed to do," Katherine said and was suddenly standing face to face with Lydia. "You knew there was going to be collateral damage—"

"I didn't know it was going to be Elena's family, Katherine! You were supposed to protect them, especially after her parents died. Who's acting as her guardian, Kat?"

"I don't have a guardian, right now. Alaric was watching out for us after Jenna died but he's passed away too."

Lydia roared and the plasterboard in the walls began to crack, causing dents to run up and down the walls. "You," she pointed at Katherine and spoke through clenched teeth, "are not done hearing it from me."

"Where are you going," Katherine yelled after her, watching Lydia climb the stairs to the second story. Giving Elena the evil eye, Katherine began to race up the stairs and was thrown back by an invisible force.

Elena reached down to help her up but Katherine refused. "You just had to play the sad sap card, didn't you? Now my number one witch is mad at me because you decided to bat your little orphan eye lashes at her."

"Typical Katherine," Elena said, "not taking any responsibility for her own actions. I'm not the one who apparently threw the rule book away. Clearly you've been playing by yourself for too long if the one person who seems to genuinely like you has a problem with what you've done."

"Oh, so now you have a back bone," Katherine replied, "I—"

"Stop the bickering," Lydia said walking down the stairs and throwing a suitcase at Katherine, who caught it without even glancing. "Elena, you can drive with me and tell me everything that's happened to you the past couple of years. I'd really like to be filled in on everything."

"You're coming to Mystic Falls," Elena asked.

"Someone needs to keep an eye out for you. I don't think you're going to go much longer without a guardian," Lydia said. "At some point child protective services is going to be around and it's better if they don't ask questions.

"Sheriff Forbes has been holding them off," Elena told her.

"Well, they'll only wait so long. Better to get this over with," Lydia said. "Besides, it looks like you're going to need a family member who is actually willing to look out for your benefit and I don't think Katherine is up for the job."

"Are you two really going to talk about me as if I'm not here," Katherine bit.

"You," Lydia poked Katherine in her chest, "can drive back by yourself."


	5. Chapter 5

Lydia slammed the car door shut and watched as Elena ran up to whom she presumed was Damon, because if it wasn't then the way she was kissing this man was not appropriate. Katherine pulled up behind them and didn't seem pleased to come face to face with her ex. It must be hard for her to see her exact replica with one of the men she had loved and know that she would never have that.

Ten hours in a car with Elena had filled her in on the goings-on of Mystic Fall. Sure, Lydia had known the strategic maneuvers that had been taken but it was another thing to know how they had affected her distant cousin. Aware of the touch decisions Elena had been forced to make, like burning down her childhood home, frustrated Lydia. The plan had always been to find a way to end the Petrova curse and free Tatia's descendants from being at Klaus's -lack of- mercy.

Katherine moved to stand next to Lydia. "This isn't what we had planned. Working with Elena is only going to keep us from doing what needs to be done. She's not as morally flexible as we are."

"Being morally flexible is what got her brother and everyone else she loved killed. My family knew when they began working with you that we would make sure that Klaus's attention was only on the first branch in order to keep him from getting what he wanted, but I didn't want Elena to suffer like this," Lydia said. "She's as much my family as you are. We need to protect her."

"Why do you think I made sure that I was the one to find the cure. They don't know what it can do for us-"

"And whose fault is that? This is it, Katherine. We've made it to the last phase of our plan. My mother, grandmother and back as far as my line has existed have planned rigorously for this. We can't take anymore chances. She needs to know. They all do," Lydia said and strode toward Elena as the new vampire waved for her and Katherine to follow.

* * *

Caroline and Bonnie stared daggers at the new comers as they listened to Elena explain why she had disappeared for a day. Slowly, Elena told the group about how the Petrova family tree had split off into several other lines and were also cursed to produce one of Tatia's doppelgangers every five hundred years, shocking them with the knowledge that somewhere out there another teenage girl wore Elena's face.

"But that would mean that Klaus would be able to make more hybrids," Caroline worried, especially since her boyfriend Tyler had been forced to leave Mystic Falls.

"Only if he knows," Lydia interjected. "If we can finish what we started and use the cure then the curse will be lifted from the entire Petrova family tree and Klaus will never be able to create more hybrids ever again."

"Then why not give Elena the cure," Bonnie asked. "If you have it and it will lift the curse-"

"Giving Elena the Cure won't break the curse," Katherine groaned, "I thought you would be smarter seeing as you're a Bennett witch. Emily is rolling over in her grave," Katherine muttered.

"Then why did you steal it," Stefan asked, brows arching as his eyes bore into Katherine's.

"Have any of you actually thought to ask what a doppelganger is? No? Nobody?" Katherine turned to Lydia as if to say 'It's your turn' and sat down, seemingly disinterested in where this conversation was going.

Lydia shook her head at the other girl's antics. "A doppelganger is more than just an exact physical replica of the original," she explained, "each doppelganger shares a piece of the original's soul. Katherine, Elena, all of the others; they're all a piece of Tatia. Katherine was the first and as such her soul -incomplete because the part that was born into her was literally ripped from Tatia's- remembered what it was like to be savagely murdered. That's why her survival instinct is magnified. Because they're only a fraction of the original soul, each doppelganger portrays or inherits one of Tatia's personality characteristics and it becomes magnified. For Elena it's her moral code."

"And there have been other doppelgangers," Caroline asked.

"One previously, between Elena and Katherine," Lydia was looking at Elena and said, "and another one who is currently living. We knew Klaus would be keeping an eye on Katherine's line and since it hadn't been discovered that the line had split we could keep the other doppelgangers safe from Klaus."

"What were their names," Bonnie asked.

"Nadia was the second doppelganger who followed me," Katherine said. "Lived to a ripe old age before dying in her sleep. The one whose alive now is Amelia."

"Where is she," Damon asked.

"Tucked away for safe keeping," Elena said. "The important part isn't about the other doppelgangers, it's about what we need to do with the cure."

"It sounds like we're going to need a lot of magic," Bonnie said.

Lydia got up to fill her beverage, "Oh, don't you worry little witch, there's no way I'm letting you mess this up."

"Excuse me," Bonnie said furiously as Damon snickered in the background and Stefan hit him hard on the back to get him to stop. "Sorry," Stefan lied, "I thought you might be choking on your tongue."

"Listen," Lydia said condescendingly, "I've heard all about you and how you came into your powers a couple of years ago and think that just because you're a Bennett witch that you're oh so powerful while you sit around making judgment calls on everyone else sitting in this room, as if you were the epitome of moral aptitude," Lydia gave her a look to say 'As if' and sat back in her seat next to Elena. "Then you go and lose your powers because just like everyone else in the room knows, the spirits realized just how sketchy your morals are and how you're not fit to have them. And if that's not enough you start dabbling in expression. You're like a junky who keeps going back for more even after you overdosed and nearly got yourself killed. You can't handle magic and the fact that you think you can just shows how messed up you are."

Caroline looked like she was ready to take Lydia's throat out while Bonnie was staring intently at Lydia. "_Really_," Lydia asked. "You're going to try to give me an aneurysm because you don't like the way I talked to you? How pathetic," Lydia said. "You really are delusional if you think you're the moral high ground here and if you want to give someone an aneurysm you have to have more skill, like this," Lydia said and Bonnie fell to the floor while Elena and Caroline rushed to her side.

"Enough Lydia, you made your point," Katherine told her. "I don't want to have to hear her whine about it for the next couple of weeks."

Lydia released Bonnie and the girl struggled to get up. "I still don't understand why she's here," Lydia said. "She's a liability to the whole operation."

Caroline and Stefan began to argue when Elena whistled to get everyone's attention. "Lydia is right. We've all had to struggle with something; blood lust, power corrupting us. But we've all gotten through it and so will Bonnie. As long as she takes this time to get some perspective." Turning to Bonnie, Elena stared at her best friend. "I think you need to stop practicing for now."

"No, Elena. I won't stop, not when you need me," Bonnie argued.

"But we don't need you," Elena said. "You have a history of going off the rails and changing the plans to accommodate yourself and we can't deal with that drama, Bonnie. Besides, Lydia is better trained and knows what she's doing. If Katherine trusts her as her number one witch then so do I."

"Elena, no," Bonnie begged, "I just need to know how to lift the curse and we can do this without trusting them. You know how dangerous Katherine is, do you really think you can trust her? I have control, you can trust me to-"

"To _what,_" Elena suddenly cried, "to get my brother killed, Bonnie, because that's what you did. As sure as Katherine sacrificed him, you led him there," the vampire raged, "because you trusted Shane and clearly your instincts are _terrible_!"

Everyone stared at her in shock as Elena sped from the room.


	6. Chapter 6

"And things just got interesting," Katherine basically cooed and shared a glance with Lydia.

Caroline was holding a crying Bonnie as Damon raced after the runaway doppelganger, leaving Stefan alone in a room of girls.

* * *

"Leave me alone, Damon," Elena called as she made her way through the woods towards the cemetery. It seemed like ages since she had been here, sitting as she wrote in her journal and hoped she could convince herself that it made her feel close to her parents again. Making her way to their headstones, Elena sat down and cradled her head against the cold marble as the tears once again fell freely.

Damon stopped to stare at her, his heart breaking not only for her but for himself. There would never be a day when he wouldn't wish that she could live out her life with the people she loved the most. Elena deserved to have a normal life with her family, free of Klaus and Katherine. Kneeling, Damon sat next to her and cupped her face in his hands. Looking up, Elena held back to tears that were starting to choke her and leaned into his embrace. Kissing his palm, Elena moved into him and let him hold her as she broke down.

* * *

Lydia pulled her hair back in a ponytail as the original came barging into Stephan's house. Spelling herself, Lydia made sure that there was no evidence of her presence in the household as Rebekah strode up to Stefan. Bonnie and Caroline had left already and Katherine was needed elsewhere, slipping out before anyone other than Lydia noticed.

Lydia knew Stefan was having feelings for Rebekah again but hoped he wasn't stupid enough to mention anything to her about what he had just found it. It wouldn't do to have the Mikaelsons aware of another doppelganger; the entire purpose of Katherine taking the cure was so they could destroy any chance of Klaus making more hybrids and holding their family hostage for the rest of eternity.

* * *

Stefan took Rebekah out and so Lydia claimed a room for herself in the Salvatore Boarding house, her car safely hidden due to her magic. She had chosen the room closest to Damon's because she knew that was where Elena would be. This room was going to be her world for the next couple of weeks, until the ritual was complete. There could be no chance encounters with original vampires or other supernatural beings who might get in their way, so Lydia prepared the space both for her magic and her own personal sanity. She was going to need it if they were going to raise the dead.


	7. Chapter 7

Elena sat with Damon as they waited on their order to arrive. She was still mentally drained from her outburst earlier and she knew that sooner or later she was going to have to apologize to Bonnie. Elena was just grateful to have Damon there for her when she needed him. He was the only thing keeping her sane right now.

Caroline had stayed with Bonnie to console her, and the only remaining Gilbert was glad that Caroline was such a good friend. Bonnie had already had one friend hit her with the hard truth, what she needed now was a friend who was able to relate to her.

Neither girl had been able to say what they thought before that horrible train wreck that had derailed the "Kill Klaus" campaign, but just like Elena knew some part of her blamed Bonnie for Jeremy's death, Elena knew some part of Bonnie was blaming Elena too. If Elena wasn't the doppelganger than Klaus would never have come here looking for her; Rebekah wouldn't have diverted Matt's truck over the Wickery Bridge and straight into the water with Matt and Elena inside, and no one would have been looking for the cure for Elena. Jeremy would never have died.

Elena wanted to blame Klaus. It was his own insecurities about being alone that had sent him on a thousand year mission to break the curse on him that prevented him from being a hybrid. It was his parents' wish to protect their children from death that had caused the doppelganger curse on her line, but...although Elena's fate was irreversibly intertwined with Klaus's, she saw the bigger picture there. Jeremy had died because Silas had reached out to a grieving man; using him to lure Bonnie into helping him with whatever his scheme was.

Elena wanted to blame Klaus. Elena didn't know who to blame.

* * *

"She's hurt," Caroline tried to assure her friend. "Jeremy was the only family she had left; the last tie to her parents and now he's gone. It doesn't help that Tweedledee and Tweedledum are filling her head with nonsense " the blonde babbled.

"But she's not wrong," the witch replied. "I did lose my powers and now I'm trying to cheat the system by using expression. There's no connection to nature only to darkness. Somewhere along the line I lost my sense of right and wrong in trying to protect Elena. Maybe I just need to stop and get some perspective."

The vampire watched as her best friend left, leaving her alone yet one more time.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** slightly longer chapter this time...WOOT WOOT! Thank you for all of your reviews, this is my first TVD fanfic and it means a lot that people actually like it. I am thinking about making this a part of a series so I am not quite sure how long this story is going to be but I am excited for it to run its course. Keep reading and reviewing!

**A/N #2**: poll/polls_tab_ ?pollid=356158 ** Please, Please, Please**... Check out my Poll (no, I did not mean that to sound dirty)! Let me know who you want to see together in in my Vampire Diaries Series... I like knowing what you guys want to read and being able to give it to you (also, not meant to sound dirty=P )

* * *

Lydia sat on the floor, her legs folded Indian style as she tried to meditate. Her nerves were going haywire as she tried to both get to know her new charge and make sure she could protect her as well as gain her trust. It was hard to gain trust when you were hiding things, even if it was for Elena's own good. Sighing, she gathered her hair up and away from her face, tying it in a high ponytail and relishing the cool air on her shoulders.

This was too much for her. Her role had always been as one who watched and helped from the shadows. People naturally associated the dark with the bad, but as she had heard it once from another she knew that the dark could offer shelter; protection, while the light sometimes blinded. Lydia missed that shelter.

There was no time to miss that shelter though. Lydia needed to center herself back to the task at hand.

* * *

Caroline checked her phone for the hundredth time. Tyler hadn't returned her message and she didn't know if he was even using it still. She wanted to trust in her newly developed friendship with Klaus and had sent a text to her boyfriend so he would know it was safe to come home but there was still doubt in the back of her mind. Klaus was in love with her, that much she knew. There was just no way to know what that meant. He had sent her boyfriend away in a tactic that almost guaranteed that Caroline was his for the taking; the tactic of a controlling sociopath with absolutely no understanding of the emotional spectrum of any normal living being. Yet, in an demonstration of mutual affection, he had allowed the blonde vampire to see a more human aspect of his nature and basically told her he wouldn't hurt Tyler like he had threatened.

Sitting there, her phone in her hand, her eyes only lifted from the screen when Katherine dared to darken her mood with her presence. "What are you doing here," she snarled.

"I just thought I would come see how my old friend Caroline was doing," Katherine smiled, though there was no mistaking it as one that lacked kind intention.

"Does Elena know you're out and about," Caroline questioned as friends and neighbors greeted her as they past their table.

"Don't be such a stick in the mud, although it's probably best you turned when you did. You would not have aged well with that sallow skin tone and those awful frown lines," Katherine threw digs at her. "Besides, Elena's the one who sent me," and she past a note to the other woman before standing. "I'll see you there," she offered before she left.

* * *

Katherine drove until she hit the town she had been summoned to. Parking, she killed the engine and released her seat belt. Slamming the door shut, she walked to their agreed upon meeting place and waited. Having been on the run for the past five hundred years, Katherine was fine with standing still for a bit.

"Katerina," Elijah let her name roll slowly off his lips. The last time he had seen her was after she had betrayed him in Pennsylvania. The thought that he had allowed himself to believe that they would be together filled him with bitter resentment toward her, and self loathing; he had allowed her to fool him even though he knew exactly what she was capable of.

There meeting played out in his head. Elena -who at the time had shut off her emotions and was unwilling to administer the cure to herself- had found Katerina with the help of his sister Rebekah, and had foiled Katerina's plan of absconding with the cure while poor, naive Elijah waited for her to begin their new life. While Elena pretended to be her ancestor, Katerina had retrieved the precious cargo and fled. He had of course figured it out when he kissed the young vampire but by then it was too late. Damon and Stefan had come for her and when she warned them that there would be consequences if they continued to look for the cure, Damon had done the only thing left to do. He made a deal with Elijah.

Looking into his ex lover's eyes, Elijah once again felt the fury rise from within. Why did he continually lay his love at her feet when he knew she would only trample over his heart to get what she wanted? Why couldn't he have fallen in love with Elena like the Salvatore brothers? Even if he could never have her at least she would be worthy of his unrequited love. That was why he had compelled Elena to turn her humanity back on, and although she was quite willful and it had gone against his wishes to use force, Elijah had used necessary force to penetrate her will as Klaus had once done to Stefan to make him turn his humanity off.

"Elijah," Katherine's eyes lit up for a brief moment before pushing the part of her that cared for him to the back burner. "I didn't think you would want to see me."

"I didn't think you would actually do the decent thing and agree to meet me," he replied, and even though his voice was calm and even, Katherine knew the anger behind his words. Klaus was capable of any and all types of cruelty but at least she knew to expect it from him. It never ceased to amaze -and scare- her that Elijah was capable of cruelty too, and she was certain that she would one day be on the other side of it.

"I know what you must think," she began, taking a few steps closer until his gaze warned her not to come too close, "but everything I do is for a reason. One day I will explain everything," her voice promised, shaken by unshed tears.

"Why don't you explain them now," Elijah spoke, not asking so much as telling her. He refused to be a fool for her any longer.

"Because we have two very different goals despite the fact that we want to same thing," she told the original.

"Do explain. The last I knew before you betrayed me, we both wanted the same thing; to give Klaus the cure and bargain for your freedom."

"Your goal is to hand over the cure to your brother and reunite your family. Mine is to make sure that Klaus will never be able to make another hybrid again so that I may protect my family," Katherine told him.

"Don't pretend to care about Elena," the nobleman scoffed. "You have done everything in your power to make sure that girl was handed over on a silver platter as long as it ensured your freedom from Klaus. You care no more for her than you do anybody else. She is just a means to an end," he spat at her as he walked closer towards her.

"Think what you want," the brunette said, "I know you're furious with me and I understand. But one day you'll realize that everything I have done is for the right reasons-" Elijah's neck snapped and he fell to the floor, revealing Elena, Caroline and Lydia who pierced his heart with a dagger, "-but until then I can't have you running back to your brother with news of my plans."

"Put him in the trunk," Lydia told Caroline and Elena, who hefted the original by his arms and feet. Turning to her best friend, Lydia laid a hand on Katherine's shoulder. She didn't speak, there was no need.


	9. Chapter 9

Lydia held a finger up to her lips, cutting Elena and Katherine off. Turning to look into the cellar in the Salvatore's basement, they were reassured to see that the daggered Original was still sleeping. Lydia turned and climbed to the main floor where her cousins followed. She picked up sage which she had spelled and lit it with her mind, waving it to ensure privacy. "They're circling the house," she said.

"Who," Elena asked.

"Klaus and his only surviving mutant wolves. He can't know that I'm here or that we have Elijah."

"Why would he come," Katherine pondered, "and why bring those rabid dogs?"

"Hey," Caroline said from the couch where she sat, nursing a glass of bourbon. "My boyfriend is one of those 'rabid dogs'," the blonde stood up. "And if you want to know why he's here, why don't we just ask him," she snapped and sped to the door, opening it to step into the front yard. "Klaus," Caroline yelled, "I know you're out there! Why don't you act like a man for once instead of playing these 'little boy' games?"

Klaus was never one to ignore a challenge or a Lady's request -if he so desired- and was in front of her in seconds. Lydia had quietly taken a step out of sight and focused on centering herself, calming her heart rate and masking it from prying ears. "Well love, I heard a nasty little rumor around town and thought I'd come see for myself," he smiled, peering over her shoulder into the Boarding house.

"And what rumor was that," Elena asked, folding one arm over the other and trying to intimidate the man who would continue to ruin her life if she let him.

"Just that Katerina has returned to Mystic Falls," the bastard gave a cheeky grin. "I seem to recall promising her centuries of torture and I would like to get started."

"Well the rumor is just that," Caroline told him. "Besides, why would we harbor Katherine? We have just as much of a desire to put a stake through her heart as you do," she assured him.

Klaus's grin fell and anger claimed all domain over his expression. "I really had hoped you wouldn't lie to me, Caroline. Especially since my brother has stopped taking my calls and the last I heard from him he was trying to obtain the cure from the little succubus that is currently hidden within these walls. Now," he smiled once more, "either you hand her over or the wolves will descend. What would you like to do?"

Caroline and Elena shared a scared glance before screaming pierced their ears and they saw Klaus kneeling on the Salvatore porch, Lydia standing behind him; holding out one hand as she chanted over his head. "Elena, Caroline , get his arms and feet," the witch advised them. "Put him with his brother," she said and continued to chant.


	10. Chapter 10

The cell door slammed shut and Elena secured the latch. "I would have sank a needle full of vervain or wolfsbane into him but unfortunately I don't think either would have worked on a hybrid," the doppelganger was flippant.

"Don't worry, we don't need it to keep him down," Lydia reassured their little ragtag group. "I've spelled the room with sigils that will hold him in there until we're ready to release him."

"And when will that be," Caroline jumped in. "I mean, according to Klaus there's an entire pack of wolves out there waiting to hear from their alpha. How long do we have before they huff and they puff and they force their way in here?"

"I wouldn't worry about that," Katherine said, her sudden appearance had gone unnoticed as she had stepped out when Lydia announced Klaus was in the vicinity. "While Lydia circled the house to take down Klaus I took care of his mutts. Gave them a good kick to the nuts and they took off running. Only had to kill one or two of them to get the point across, too."

"Again," Caroline interrupted, "when exactly are we going to be ready to let Klaus free? Sooner or later he's going to wake up and anyone who helped keep him captive is going to have to answer for it."

"I really didn't want to rush things," Lydia said more to herself as she bit her thumb, contemplating her options. "Then again I didn't count on Elijah being so forthright with his brother. I had hoped Klaus wouldn't notice Elijah missing for a couple of weeks," she mumbled.

"Rush what," Elena asked. She had trusted Lydia more than she probably should considering her allegiance to Katherine, but there was something about her distant cousin that made Elena feel at home. That was something she hadn't felt in a long time, and she hoped her trust wasn't misplaced.

"The timeline for the ritual," the witch's head hung low as she continued to think. "I thought we'd have more time but I don't think we have a choice anymore. We have to call them."

"Call who," Elena cried.

"The others," Lydia whispered to herself more than anyone else. She wasn't quite prepared for this; in her mind there had always been plenty of time for perfection to be reached. One careless miscalculation was going to ruin her well laid plans.

Elena shot Katherine a glance. "What's she talking about?"

Katherine let loose a low, maniacal chuckle, shaking her head and pushing her hands into her hair by her temples. Pacing, Katherine stopped to kick a wall. Everything was going to pot. Lydia held out a hand and Katherine clasped it. "Our missing parts. If we want to free ourselves from Klaus we need every Petrova doppelganger around here to do it," she yelled.

* * *

Bonnie arrived at the Boarding house moments after Damon and Stefan, crossing the threshold to be met by an enthusiastic Caroline. Elena stood near Katherine and Lydia, avoiding her best friend and the harsh words she was afraid they would exchange.

"What's going on," she asked the blonde. "I thought I was too unpredictable to be of any help," she rubbed Elena's words back in the other girl's face.

"Well, I thought it would be a good idea to have you here," Caroline told her. Pulling Bonnie to the side, she began filling the other girl in as her co-conspirator. "See, I told them it would be a good idea for you to be here so that Lydia might be able to channel you, _and_ I thought if you were here and Lydia tried anything funny you could put the kibosh on it."

"What exactly is she trying to do," Bonnie threw a glare towards the other witch.

"She says that in order to use the cure to raise the curse from the Petrova line she must do a ritual with all of the previous and current doppelgangers. If we were to give the cure to just one of them then the family lineage would still produce more copies of Tatia and Klaus could still make more hybrids."

"But according to her there's only one living doppelganger," Bonnie said. "How would only one girl help?"

"Get this, Lydia and Katherine left out some major details," Caroline gossiped. "Not only does the line split every two hundred and fifty years resulting in a doppelganger every five centuries, but each originator of the new lines is also a doppelganger. That means there's been more than just the four of them," the blonde basically bounced with excitement. "There's been eight," she squealed. "And Lydia thinks the ritual can be done tonight if she can summon all of them here."

"But," Bonnie faltered for a minute, "that would mean most of them aren't living anymore. Lydia would have to-"

"-Raise the dead," Lydia broke apart their little pow wow. "Are you two ready?"


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's** **Note:** okay, ladies and gents (if there are even any guys reading this). **We are getting closer to the end of this story**, and by end I mean the transition into our **sequel**. I'm thinking a cliffhanger is always exciting. I'm thinking there will be four more chapters to this story; nine at most. I'm so excited to reveal where this is going. Also, I created a poll but somehow can't get it to work or garner enough attention for it. That being said.** PLEASE review and tell me what couple combination you want to see** in the upcoming chapters/sequel. It can be a totally new couple or an old favorite.

* * *

Bonnie barged into the Boarding house, used to entering without knocking. Their lives -the witches, doppelgangers, vampires and werewolves- were all too intermingled to bother with privacy or courtesy.

"Bonnie," Stefan stepped into the foyer, his lip curled and brow furrowed in his typical brooding manner, "I thought you were in the attic getting ready for the ritual."

"What ritual? I just got here."

Stefan's eyes became wide and his shoulders stiff. "I saw you come in almost half an hour ago. The girls were filling you in on how they're going to break the doppelganger curse."

"I'm telling you, Stefan," Bonnie was being firm with him, "whoever was here was not me! I've been at home trying to keep-" her breath hitched and she began running up the staircase. Half way up to the attic she felt Stefan pass her in his vampiric speed, nearly pushing her into the wall. When she reached her destination she saw him there. "Silas," rolled off her lips.

* * *

"How long do you think she'll be stuck in that virtual reality," Caroline questioned Lydia.

"Until I lift the spell," the witch replied. "It's better for her to be in her own mind than out here. Like I said, she's a loose canon and with Silas being able to get into every corner of her brain we need to keep her occupied and away from the real action. As it is, we have two original vampires locked in the basement waiting to tear out our throats. I think the sooner we get down to business the better off we'll all be."

"What happens if Silas comes after us," Elena asked her cousin. "I mean, you are the one who said he can still get into Bonnie's head and we did tell her just about the entire plan before we realized she was being controlled. Silas could know everything we have planned."

"But he doesn't," Lydia told them, "and do you want to know why?"

"Why do I get the feeling you're going to go 'after school special' on our asses," Caroline huffed, before falling into a chair.

Lydia just smirked, irritating the blonde even more. "You know how Bonnie is the descendant of Qetsiyah?"

"The witch who created monster land," Damon referred to the other side where all supernatural beings go when they die, "so Silas could never be with the woman he loved. Yeah, we remember." Up until then he and Stefan had just been listening as they let the women do all the party planning.

"Well," Lydia twirled her hair and grinned at her captivated audience, "did it ever occur to you to ask yourself just _who_ his lady love _was?_ I mean, it's kind of sad and is a truly tragic love story and yet all we remember is Silas. How is _that_ fair?"

"Get on with it," Katherine threw an old magazine at her witch. "What do you know and why didn't you inform me?"

Lydia threw the magazine back at her ancestor. "The woman he loved, whom Qetsiyah murdered, was our ancestor Emiliya. When Silas fell in love with her he tried to court her but his power scared her. He did everything and anything he could to gain her favor but there was only one thing she wanted," Lydia held a finger up at Damon, who was about to interrupt her which would surely prove pointless and would only delay sharing this information. "Silas had the ability to get into people's heads even back then. Emiliya wanted to know that everything between them was of her own choice and not because of his power over others. To gain her trust he granted her immunity from his psychic powers. Immunity that was passed down to us.

"See," she explained, "anything we said to Bonnie was protected by our immunity. I can sense his presence and when he is near. Now that she's down for her nap -entertainment provided by the Lydia Petrova company- he can't get into her head until I decide to wake her up. We just need to summon the others that we need and get this show on the road. Speaking of which, I think our first visitor has arrived," Lydia said before the door bell even went off.

"It's _creepy_ how you do that," Caroline bitched. "I mean, _hello_. I have vampire hearing and I didn't hear anyone coming up to the house."

Stefan raced down the stairs where he was greeted by an unexpected face. "Hello," the brunette said. "I'm Amelia," she held out her hand. "Are Katherine and Lydia here?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's** **Note:****We are getting closer to the end of this story**, and by end I mean the transition into our **sequel**. I'm so excited to reveal where this is going. Also, I created a poll but somehow can't get it to work or garner enough attention for it. That being said.** PLEASE review and tell me what couple combination you want to see** in the upcoming chapters/sequel. It can be a totally new couple or an old favorite.

* * *

Stefan didn't know why he was stunned. He had known there was another doppelganger out there and by definition she would be identical to his former flames; Katherine and Elena. But there she stood, tall and willowy; chocolate hair cut in a trendy inverted bob with edgy side bangs swept over a familiar set of eyes that had haunted him for over a century. Slowly, a smile spread across his face. "I'm Stefan," he said holding out a hand.

Amelia leaned into the handshake, her smile lighting up her entire face. "Hi," she flirted coyly. She was sporting a black silk tank top that flowed out underneath her bust line with a pair of skinny jeans and matching black suede boots. She held a khaki colored anorak jacket over her left arm and passed over the threshold, never taking her gaze from his eyes.

Footprints bounded down the stairs and Lydia leaned against the banister. "Mel! Thank god you're here."

"Anything to gain my freedom," Amelia said, setting her purse on the floor and allowing Stefan to hang up her coat. "What do I need to do?"

* * *

Lydia lead the way, ignoring the stern looks on Katherine and Elena's faces.

For Katherine it was alarming to see Amelia, though she has spent time watching over her as she had all of her lines, because she had made it her nature to protect them from Klaus. That protection was made possible by one thing only; anonymity. Now that she was here in the same place as the original hybrid who had spent his life terrorizing them it could only mean trouble if their plan didn't work.

Elena stepped forward, offering a hand and a smile. "You must be Amelia," she welcomed. "It's really good to meet you," and was surprised to find the other Petrova wrapping her arms around her. Elena melted into the embrace, feeling a long since forgotten feeling of warmth, family and belonging. Sure, Stefan had been there to save her at a time in her life where she was in danger of losing herself to her grief and mourning; his embraces always sweet and protective, while Damon had offered her excitement and sensuality, but there was nothing like the purity of being in the arms of someone who had and always would love you unconditionally like a parent or sibling.

Katherine stood forward, the jealousy she felt towards Elena quickly ebbing as once again another seemed so effortlessly to love her. Elena hadn't done anything to deserve Amelia's friendship and loyalty. It was Katherine who kept her secret, who watched and dislodged any problems that arose in Amelia's life. Where was the camaraderie between them?

Amelia pulled away and spotted Katherine before slinging her arms around her ancestor. "Long time, no see," Mel greeted. She could sense how perturbed Katherine was and knew instantly that her insecurities were getting the best of her again; Lydia had filled her in on all the goings on. "She's your daughter, too," Mel whispered in Katherine's ear. "Play nice, Kat."

Katherine rolled her eyes and clasped Mel's hand in hers, tucking it under her chin before kissing it. "So young but the wisest of all Petrovas. If I hadn't seen it for myself I would doubt you carried the Petrova fire even poor little Elena holds in her soul."

"Well, you know what they say," Amelia dropped into a seat next to Caroline, "Sunday's child is bonny and blithe, good and gay. I can't help it that you were born on a saturday."

"What is Saturday's child," Elena asked.

"Works hard for their living," Mel answered. "You're fair of face, but then again aren't we all," she joked. "It's actually kind of funny the things the three of us do and don't have in common. We are identical to the last strand of DNA, and pretty much have the same personality though certain aspects are brighter in each of us then the other. I mean," Amelia got off on her rant, "we were all born in June but on different days, we're all orphans-"

"What do you mean, 'we're all orphans'," Elena looked petrified and threw a glance towards Katherine as if asking for answers.

"Well, my mother was killed by a drunk driver when I was eight and my dad raised me until I was fifteen, when he suffered from a severe allergic reaction. Lydia's family stepped in since there was no one else, and Great Aunt Sonya became my guardian. When I turned eighteen she left to go join another nudist colony. Transferred everything back into my name and here we are. Three little orphans."

"You were born in june of 1992? What day," Elena asked. She was used to the idea of knowing that Katherine looked enough like her to be her twin but here was someone who was born in the same time, grew up with the same societal expectations and might even like the same music and books as her. It was a connection she was craving.

"June 14th. I'm eight days older than you, but only because my mother suffered from gestational diabetes and her doctor decided it was safer to deliver me early."

Caroline was glad that Amelia seemed to have more in common with her friend than their ancestor but she had tons of thoughts running through her mind. Sitting forward, she addressed the only conscious witch -after glancing at her friend, who was laying across an old settee in the Salvatore attic- "You said visitors, plural. Who else should we be expecting?"

Lydia smiled at the sound of the doorbell.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's** **Note:****We are getting closer to the end of this story**, and by end I mean the transition into our **sequel**. I'm so excited to reveal where this is going. Also, I created a poll but somehow can't get it to work or garner enough attention for it. That being said.** PLEASE review and tell me what couple combination you want to see** in the upcoming chapters/sequel. It can be a totally new couple or an old favorite.

* * *

The doorbell rang and Damon waited for his brother to answer it, annoyed upon seeing him smiling back at Amelia. Getting up, he made sure to smack Stefan upside the head as he sped down the stairs. The Salvatore brothers definitely had a thing for the Petrova doppelgangers.

Reaching for the knob, he was surprised to find two older women; women whom shared the same Petrova features such as the dark hair and olive skin. "Ladies," he laid the charm on thick, "welcome to the Salvatore Boarding house. May I assume you're friends of Lydia?"

The younger of the two, a woman who appeared to be in her early forties held out a hand -wearing numerous rings of various gemstones- while using the other to brush back her long locks; Damon couldn't help but think she maintained it in hopes of maintaining a youth long since passed. "I am Ilya, Lydia's mother. This is my mother, Sonya. We're here to help," she smirked.

* * *

"Grand-mama Sonya," Lydia and Amelia jumped up to hug, leaving Ilya slightly perturbed. The girls gave the elderly woman generous kisses before the old woman shooed them away. Unlike her daughter, Sonya didn't use her magic to hold onto foolish things like appearance. She would rather hold onto her dignity. That which came from the earth would always return there, she saw no use in delaying it. Still, her daughter was a strong Petrova woman and had a firm grip on her powers. There was no better ally in Sonya's mind.

"You're here earlier than I expected," Lydia said, finally reaching her mother to give her a kiss on the cheek. "How did you get here so soon?"

"We are witches, dear," Ilya spoke. "Powerful witches; we trained you after all. We left before you even sent your message and it's a good thing we got here in time. You have two originals in this house. That was not a part of the plan," she said sternly.

"Yeah, well unfortunately we had to immobilize Elijah," Lydia huffed. She never had been able to gain her mother's approval. "Elijah was looking for the cure. I didn't expect Klaus to show up looking for him so soon. I had no choice, his hybrids were circling the house."

"What have you done to keep him down," Sonya rubbed a hand up her granddaughter's arm.

"I used sigils to lock him in a cellar separate from his brother, who currently has a dagger in his heart," Lydia said. "Klaus's mutts were neutralized as well. I had been hoping to have another month to prepare for the ritual but the time line has moved up drastically. It has to be done tonight," the twenty-five year old asserted.

"Tonight," Elena asked, stunned. "Don't you need the full moon?"

"Don't worry child," Sonya patted Elena on the cheek. "It is a special time, one when magic is rarely cast. The three days before the new moon share the same principal as the sabbath day in christianity where you are expected to take time to relax and cease from working. The days belong to Hecate, Queen of the witches and it is known as the 'Dark of the Moon'. It is a time to banish, heal, grow and of completion. The ritual will call on Hecate to banish the Petrova curse and allow our family to heal."

"What about the others," Elena asked. "How long do we have to wait for them before they show up?"

Ilya smiled, touched at how innocent Elena managed to be after everything she had been through. "We're witches, dear. We're going to summon them," watching as her daughter opened a trunk holding ritual supplies.

* * *

Thunder rolled and rain fell in assault formation, hitting the ceiling and windows. Klaus slowly came to, taking in his surroundings and rubbing the back of his head. Bonnie Bennett would pay for putting him down. He would see to it.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's** **Note: **only one more chapter after this! Now, this story will continue and I hope to have the sequel up soon, but I am thinking of writing another TVD story following the fourth season finale. I don't know which one will be up first, but please look for them! **  
**

* * *

"It's good to see you have the Bennett witch here," Ilya complemented her daughter. "Her line is very strong, like ours. We can channel her to help with the ritual without worrying about her going off and betraying us. You've done well."

Lydia furrowed her brow, pursed her lips and looked at her mother through suspicious eyes. It wasn't like her to offer words of kindness or encouragement. "Thank you," she replied slowly. "I have a piece of her jewelry we can use to channel her, though I would like to ask Elena permission to draw blood."

"That makes sense. How has Elena taken to you," she asked. "I know this must be hard for her, but we need her full cooperation if we are going to pull it off."

"Elena is stronger than people give her credit for, especially Katherine. She's the good part of Tatia; the heart. It will be her that makes this possible. Elena's the missing puzzle piece," Lydia drawled off, looking across the attic at her cousin; not hearing her mother go on and on.

"Yes, well Kat is the survival aspect; Elena the heart; Amelia the carefree; Nadia the neuroticism; Silviya the empathy; Sofiyah courageous; Eva cruel and Irina the risk taker."

Across the room Lydia watched her cousins, Elena and Amelia, who were setting up the circle as Sonya instructed them, explaining what tools would be used in the ritual. "Such a shame, that this curse has taken this from you. You would have been born witches if your magic had not been stolen from you," the old woman clucked.

"What do you mean," Elena asked.

"When their mother, Esther, sacrificed you the first time; that is, your original incarnation Tatia, to create a protection spell over her children to prevent them from dying, she called upon your blood and its magic. That which should belong to you is still attached to her sons. Unfortunately I cannot strip it from them as I am strong but not that strong," she chuckled. "We will have to settle with ending the curse on your lines."

"If the magic was stripped from us, how is it that your side of the family still has magic," Elena questioned.

"Tatia had a younger sister, Charlotte. They loved each other fiercely. The night Esther summoned Tatia to the woods Charlotte followed. She tried to save her sister but Mikael intervened. After she killed Tatia, Esther warned Charlotte to leave and not warn her children about what she had done, otherwise she would return to kill her and Tatia's child, Rayna. Charlotte taught her children the craft, vowing that our line would one day set her sister and all of Tatia's children free. Tonight, we honor the Petrova sisters and keep our promise," Sonya said merrily.

* * *

Caroline and the Salvatore brothers watched from the sidelines as Lydia, Ilya, Sonya, Amelia, Elena and Katherine took a stand in the circle. Parts of the ritual had been explained to them. The three witches all represented the different personas of the Goddess; Lydia the maiden, Ilya the mother and Sonya the crone. Each drew blood, spilling it into a ceremonial bowl as Ilya acted as high priestess, calling upon Hecate.

"I honor you, Queen of the witches," she recited, "and offer up to you the blood of the Petrova lines. We call upon you Goddess and ask for your help," her voice rose. Stepping further into the center of the circle, Ilya opened a velvet satchel and removed various items; an antique pendent with a ruby in the center, a silver bracelet with victorian designs, a lovely choker with a cameo in the center, an old fashioned lace veil, and a pearl broach. "Before you are tokens of our fallen sisters; Sofiyah, Silviyah, Eva, Nadia, and Irena, as well as the three living embodiments of the original sacrifice and soul, Tatia Petrova. These tokens are bonds to a shared past and connect all nine together," Ilya continued.

Damon's ears perked up before turning to stand sideways, speaking subtly to his little brother. "Why is she talking about nine of them being connected, if this spell is supposed to raise up the _eight_ doppelgangers?"

Stefan's brow furrowed. "Something's not right," he said and moved to intervene. Reaching out an arm to grab Elena and Amelia, a charge ran through his body and Stefan found himself falling back to the ground. The girls looked back in shock, both trying to go to him and finding their feet locked in place.

"What's happening," Amelia cried. Ever since she had seen his face Amelia had felt something drawing her to him. Unable to reach him, the fun loving doppelganger was overcome with fear.

Caroline was desperate. Damon was picking his brother up off the floor and she ran next to where Bonnie still laid sleeping. "_Please_," she cried, "you have to wake up," Caroline was shaking her by the shoulders. Bonnie wasn't waking.

Invoking the Goddess Hecate, Ilya raised the small ceremonial bowl. Elena and Amelia looked to Katherine and Lydia for answers, both oddly stone faced and unafraid. "_Oh my god_," Elena said. "You know what's going to happen," she screamed at Katherine. "_What_ are you doing?"

Ilya took the bowl to her lips, drinking the Petrova blood. "I, Queen of the witches, the Goddess Hecate work my magic in this circle round," Ilya walked, stopping at each doppelganger before placing a small drop of remaining blood on each girl's lip, "bind their lives and souls as one. As their blood and these tokens signify their presence, so shall they be revived," Ilya stepped back into her place in the circle, clasping the hands of the maiden and the crone. "So shall I say, so mote it be!"


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's** **Note: **Here it is, the last chapter. Now, this story will continue and I hope to have the sequel up soon, but I am thinking of writing another TVD story following the fourth season finale. I don't know which one will be up first, but please look for them! **PLEASE...if you have any ideas about what couples you want to see, or any ideas, feel free to let me know. I'm open to suggestion. ****  
**

* * *

"So shall I say, so mote it be," Ilya yelled, thunder crashing in the background.

Damon and Stefan waited, unsure of what the witches had done.

Light from the thunder filtered in the attic, blinding all in attendance.

When Elena removed her arm from over her eyes she was pleased to see that her family hadn't betrayed her. Standing before her were the other five Petrova doppelgangers, each dressed in varying period piece attire. Nadia was the eldest having died in her eighties, and gave Elena a glimpse of the life she might have had if Rebekah hadn't ran her off the Wickery Bridge that fateful night. Eva appeared to be the first doppelganger, even before Katherine and was dressed in a simple cotton dress; she had lived into her fifties. Irena was dressed in the loveliest gown that reminded Elena of the fifteenth century. If she remembered correctly Irena was born the same time as Katherine. Silviya appeared to be in her late thirties, and if Elena's calculations were right had lived during the revolutionary war in the New England area. It was Sofiyah who surprised Elena. Sofiyah was the youngest of all of them, dressed in shorts and a plain white t-shirt with white slip on keds. She only appeared to be thirteen.

"Lydia," Sofiyah smiled. "I've missed you so much!"

Lydia smiled at her youngest cousin, before crossing the circle to embrace her. Her hand pressed against the back of Sofiyah's head, brushing her hair. Sofiyah had been born the same year as Elena and Amelia, living in Boston with her mother and adoptive father in an apartment building. Their upstairs neighbor had fallen asleep with a candle still lit. Sofiyah had woken up coughing from the smoke and made it outside to the safe place and waited for her parents. The building had begun to collapse when she saw her mother inside trying to break a window. Always the courageous, the teenager had run back in for her parents and she hadn't come out. That was almost six years ago. Lydia had been nineteen and heartbroken. She had loved that little girl like a sister.

Elena cried at the sight, imagining herself at that age. It wasn't that long ago really, and she wondered what had happened to her. Why hadn't Katherine been watching over her like she had Amelia?

Lydia let go of Sofiyah and looked into her eyes. "Remember the plans we made, little one?" Sofiyah nodded and looked around the room. "It's time. Are you ready," Lydia asked gently.

"I'm ready," Sofiyah responded. "My sisters took care of me on the other side. They helped me," she said.

"Go stand in the circle, little one," Lydia released the hand she had been holding and was glad when Sophie went to stand between Elena and Amelia. They should have been raised together, Lydia thought. They looked right together.

"Wait," Amelia said, "aren't we done? I thought our goal was to bring back the rest of the doppelgangers-"

"-So that we can lift the curse," Lydia interrupted. "There's still one thing left we must do. Katherine," she held out a hand to her friend, "I need the cure," and was relieved when Kat handed it over. Emptying it into the ceremonial bowl, Lydia went around collecting blood from the doppelgangers one last time before handing it back to her mother, Ilya who still invoked the Queen of the witches.

"Blood to Blood, we summon thee; blood to blood, return to me," Ilya chanted, "the soul of one dispersed in eight, tonight completes long awaited fate. Tatia Petrova, blood of our blood, take a foot hold in our physical realm so we might see this curse undone."

Once again thunder rolled, blinding everyone; only able to hear the frightening thumps that shook the attic floor. When the light dispersed and their vision returned, Caroline, Stefan & Damon all saw the same thing. All eight Doppelgangers laid motionless on the floor.


End file.
